1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a rodent housing rack for housing rodents used in laboratory experimentation.
2. Description of the Related Art
A negative-pressure one-way air flow rodent housing rack is known. In the negative-pressure one-way air flow rodent housing rack, by drawing air through the exhaust vents located on the rear surface of the shelves, negative pressure is created inside the shelves causing air to flow as a one-way air flow from the front surface of the shelves toward the rear surface. The laboratory animals are housed inside the cages in the condition that the room air flows through the shelves in one-way air flow from the front to the rear of the shelves without the odors and allergens from the animals inside the cages stored in the shelves escaping into the room.
On the other hand, a rodent housing rack, having doors on the front surfaces of part of the shelves, and that allows air to circulate inside the shelves by way of this opening has been proposed (see patent document: Japanese Utility patent registration No. 3,057,907).
However, in the case of the rodent housing rack that is disclosed in the patent document, when the doors are opened, the area of the opening on the front surface of the shelves becomes larger, and the velocity of the air taken in decreases and turbulent airflow occurs, thus there is a possibility that inside air of the cages will leak out into the room.